Columns of tractors waving the lone-star flag of Catalan independence are converging on the region’s towns in support of Sunday’s banned referendum.
Supporters cheered as a column of vehicles, dubbed a Tractorada, rolled into the capital, Barcelona, streaming past the famous Sagrada Familia church.

“We are asking for tractors to be parked peacefully near polling stations and, if they try to close them, impede them or make it as difficult as possible,” a member of one farmers’ group, Gerard Batalla, told AFP news agency earlier this week.

Hundreds of Catalan educationalists chanted “Obrirem!” – “We will open!” – and jangled their keys symbolically as they vowed to use schools as polling stations in Sunday’s vote in a meeting with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.

Supporters of Catalan independence have begun occupying polling stations in a bid to protect Sunday’s vote from a crackdown by the Spanish government.

Catalonia’s vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, said Catalan citizens will be able to vote “even if somebody takes voting stations by assault and tries to avoid something as natural as placing a voting slip in a ballot”.

Mr. Junqueras said an internal poll showed more than 60 percent of the 5.3 million eligible voters plan to cast ballots.

He displayed a prototype of the plastic ballot boxes planned for more than 2,300 voting stations.

In an interview with the Telegraph ahead of the vote on Sunday, Mr Puigdemont insisted the referendum would go ahead as planned despite the Spanish government’s attempts to block it.

If the referendum returned a “Yes” for secession, the Catalan government would stick to its pledge to declare independence 48 hours later, he vowed.

But the Catalan leader dismissed the idea of an abrupt split from Spain, saying there would then be “no alternative” but dialogue with Madrid – and Europe – on a stable and agreed transition to an independent state. This, he said, would be “a moment for Europe”.

“Europe that is looking the other way, staying silent, supporting Spain, like a zombie – in that moment, Europe cannot keep looking the other way,” Mr Puigdemont said, adding “the whole world is seeing it, that there is a problem”.

Vote Will Take Place

After weeks of insisting the vote will not take place, including a report a few days ago that it could not take place because of ballot box confiscation and police actions, Eurointelligence changed its tune in an Email early this morning.

The Spanish government has disrupted the Catalan referendum, but is likely not to be able to stop millions of Catalans from casting votes anyway despite a massive police deployment.

There are about 17,000 Mossos, as well as maybe an equal number of Police and Guardia Civil, mostly deployed around Barcelona, and local police in some 250 town over 5,000 inhabitants. This doesn’t seem enough to seal off the maybe 2,700 polling stations in the region, of which some 500 are in Barcelona and another 500 in towns without a local police, given the calls for students and activists to occupy polling stations before the police come to close them.

On a more serious note, Andrés Boix i Palop enumerates on Verfassungsblog a series of Spanish enforcement actions decisions which are raising alarm among an increasing number of legal experts. The logic is that the Spanish government wants to avoid the political cost of declaring a state of emergency (Art 116 of the Spanish constitution) or commanding the Catalan regional government (Art 155). Instead, they are using alternative means which push the limits of constitutionality. In other words, the Spanish government is violating the constitution in order to protect it.

The UN Human Rights Council issued a statement Thursday criticizing Spanish government efforts to block a referendum on independence in Catalonia.

In the council’s statement, UN human rights experts say, “Regardless of the lawfulness of the referendum, the Spanish authorities have a responsibility to respect those rights that are essential to democratic societies.”

The statement notes that authorities have searched printing establishments, seized referendum material, blocked websites, stopped political meetings and deployed more than 4,000 police officers to the Catalan region. They also express concern that leaders of the mass protests have been charged with sedition and about the arrest of politicians.

“The measures we are witnessing are worrying because they appear to violate fundamental individual rights, cutting off public information and the possibility of debate at a critical moment for Spain’s democracy,” the UN human rights experts say.

Responding to a week of dramatic actions by Spain’s central government — including a court order barring the referendum as illegal, the arrest of local officials who organized it, the confiscation of ballot papers by police officers from outside the region and the blocking of electoral websites — Catalan officials displayed a new set of ballot boxes for reporters on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference where the ballot boxes were unveiled, the regional government’s foreign minister, Raül Romeva, said that there was no legal basis for treating the vote as a criminal act.

On Thursday, Romeva was in Brussels, where he called for the European Commission to mediate between officials in Barcelona and Madrid. Underlining the urgency of the situation, Romeva made it clear that the Catalan parliament, known as the Generalitat, still plans to declare independence within 48 hours of the referendum if the Yes side prevails.

While recent polls suggest that Catalonia’s population is almost evenly divided on independence (an El Pais survey in April showed the Yes camp trailing by 49 percent to 44), there is overwhelming support for the principle that the population should be allowed to vote on the matter.

The Intercept marred an otherwise decent report with complete nonsense about “recent polls” from April that shows the yes camp trailing by 49 percent to 44).

Twitter Translation: “For them!” they shouted at Huelva to the GC before leaving for Catalonia. I do not want to live in such a country.”

Corrected Translation: Reader Edwin says: The Tweet should read “Go get them” not “For them” This crowd of Spaniards believe Catalonia is tearing Spain up so they are cheering the Guardia Civil (like our National Guard) to rein Catalonia in.

In an age of fragmentation, the Catalan referendum stands apart. Unlike the Kurds, who voted overwhelmingly this past week to separate from Iraq, Catalans are not driven by an external threat or compulsion, by a war or by an economic collapse. They live well, in the prosperous heart of Europe. Their grievances are old and bone-deep, reawakened by political movements, both in Catalonia and in Madrid, magnified by partisan media on both sides, and accelerated by the Spanish government’s blunt, reflexive clampdown.

“We have been waiting for this moment for 300 years,” said Guillem Carbonell Vidal, 18, who is studying to be a theater technician. He was excited, and also sleep-deprived, having spent the last week running from one political meeting to another, debating such matters as whether to print a new currency and nationalize the banks.

Ask “independistas” why the need to break away from Spain is so urgent, and the answer goes back to 1714, when Philip V of Spain captured Barcelona during the War of Spanish Succession, bringing an end to the Catalan principality.

Many Catalans have grown to adulthood believing that they were, simply, not Spanish. Under Franco’s dictatorship, which ended in 1975, the government tried to stamp out all Catalan institutions and the language, and thousands of people were executed in purges. Virtually no Catalan family emerged from that period unscarred.

The responsibility to choose fell heavily on ordinary people, like Marta Suana Rovira, 48, the headmistress of an elementary school on Carrer de Sant Marian in Terrassa.

A few days earlier, she had received a letter from the central government in Madrid, enumerating the criminal charges that she would face if she allowed her building to be used for voting: Among them was sedition, which under Spanish law carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Ms. Rovira gave the officers a friendly welcome. Her mother grew up under Franco’s dictatorship, when it was forbidden to study Catalan in school, and recalls watching her teachers burn Catalan workbooks to prevent the inspectors from Madrid from spotting them.

But the question of keys is a tricky one, she added with a twinkle.“The thing is, it is used for a lot of activities, and all those entities, they all have keys,” she said. “Town Hall has a key. The teachers have keys. The parents’ association has keys. Organizations which use the center have keys. ”

She spread her hands, as if to show that she was helpless in the matter.

“It is impossible to control,” she said, and then went off into a gale of laughter.

Related

About Mish

Post navigation

Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, including advertisements, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument, or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the author(s). The author may or may not have a position in any company or advertiser referenced above. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or advertisement on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

One of the problems that all bloggers have is to know when they are not qualify to speak about a particular subject. Mish you know absolutely nothing about the situation in Spain. Moreover, when you say something like: “I am pleased to see a peaceful revolution against a corrupt Rajoy” you show to the better informed reader that you are clueless. Have you look into the corruption of the Catalan government at all?
Now one can argue that you have the right to an opinion which it is true and I agree. However, when I read such badly researched article I wonder about the accuracy (or lack thereof) of all your writings. In Spain we have a saying: zapatero, a tus zapatos

Spoken like someone who does not believe people have the right of self-determination.
On that, I know what I am talking about.
And what do you dispute about the history?
What do you dispute about repression under Franco?
What is it that you do dispute about massive corruption of PP?
What is it that you dispute about the unwise actions of Rajoy?
What is it that you dispute about reforms that passed in 2010 that Rajoy worked hard to overturn.

I stand by the facts.You are not aware of what is happening and all the sources you quote are in favor of the referendum. How about (since you are so fair minded) you quote articles from the other side?
Also you said:
“The EU will quickly accept Catalonia”

EU rules of admittance requires unanimity. In other words Spain has to vote yes for what you said.

BTW since you are such a believer of self-determination. Are you aware of the fact that Catalonia was always planing on independence regardless of the number of total votes. So “your self-determination” would force the silent majority would be force to an independence they do not want. Moreover, how about researching how Catalonia for more than 10 years has been discriminating against non-Catalan speakers.
So pleasssse

You still did not answer one of Mish questions nor gave a concrete reason why you believe he does not know what he is talking about. Mish article is full of facts. Please give us a few from the other side why this will be such a bad thing. Wait, you are right Spain will lose all that tax revenue. I forgot.

He exposes the “self-determination” fallacy and noted the Catalan government “wishes to hold a referendum which is actually nothing of the sort: It is a plebiscite to ratify a unilateral secession born out of an illegitimate process. It is illegitimate because its “legal basis” was forced through surreptitiously in the middle of the night, with scant regard for deadlines, against the advice of the Catalan parliament’s legal experts and in breach of the rights of the opposition MPs”.

The Catalan secessionists might well be a bunch of racist chancers on the make and some circumspection in the enthusiasm for the actions might be appropriate.

This is of NO BUSINESS of America. Should we interfere with the internal affairs of Spain? Obama should have kept his trap shut during the “Arab spring”, and Trump is right to do so here.

The actions of Spain have sealed the results (even if the ballots don’t reveal them), and independence will be achieved (or violence visited upon the citizens of Catalonia). Only those areas sympathetic to staying in Spain will cooperate with officials trying to block the vote. Thus the vote tallies will lean toward independence. Perhaps that their play, to claim the election was not open and fair.

The EU does not benefit from this vote, and are likely secretly undermining it. Centralization is their goal.

I only hope this same thirst for independence infects California. America could use the trimming of that dead weight. And then the illegals and refugees will have a place to run to!

There is a constant stream of low level events going on in Cataluña now. Some of the main news is:

The Mossos are following any order by the courts, but they and the Spanish police have limited their encounters to delegates, instead of chiefs. This is basically an informal rebutal of the authority of the other. The Mossos have stated that they will not close or empty voting stations where this will cause a reduction of public order.

The Spanish prosecutor has promised large fines for those manning voting booths.

There are reports that anti-fa or “anarchists” are making their way to Cataluña from all over Europe.

There are convocations for nationalist/fascist demonstrations and simultaneous left wing counter demonstrations occuring.

As voting premise are being sealed from this evening, there are sit ins going on as of now.

Google obeys a Spanish court order to remove an official Catalan referendum app. from its Android store

Well…either we will watch the referendum take place in a mostly reasonable manner and Spain will lose face, or the Spanish will make sure the event is a misery and unworkable ( they are able to at great cost by going to state of emergency or triggering 155) , or all leaders will be rounded up anytime between now and Sunday leaving no legitimate leadership.

I won’t guess, but repeat that in my opinion the referendum will not take place ( in any way that might seem valid).

Don’t we just know that Brussels has their grimey hands supporting Rajoy…Macron, in a recent speech called for a “Radically” united Europe, along with the formation of an EU “Military Intervention Force.” Catalonia has to move quickly…

Mish is wrong. For a new country to join the EU it needs to meet several requirements. To give you an idea Croatia applied in 2003 and was finally admired in 2013. Catalonia is on record to renege on its part of the Spanish debt (about $40B). Member countries have veto power. Spain (and probably France) will veto entry. Spain for obvious reasons. France because they have a large Catalonia population next to Catalonia. Catalonia wants that region to form part of its new country. Catalonia BTW is being run by communist (Marxists to be exact). %60 of all Catalonian products are bought by the rest of Spain. That industry goes away as soon as they gain independence. Spain will impose tariff (EU as a matter of fact since they will have to negotiate tariffs from zero). So no the EU will not quickly accept Catalonia.

You are guessing
The EU is far more pragmatic than you think
If Catalonia does break away, they will be very quick to accept them
Will it be immediate? No and I never said so
But it will be fast track for sure

Carlos, you said yourself that Mish knew nothing of Spanish/Catalan eituation to have the right to express in-depth detailed opinion on this burning issue of independance.
I cannot claim I represent opinion of all French people of course, but what I can tell you is that most French believe in independant self-determination because history showed that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was right about its “Social contract” theory: you cannot go against the will of unified individual wills.
Example : Comores and Mayotte.

So let France and French out of the melee. We let them decide, with all the cost and sweat it involves indeed.

About EU, application of human rights principles will get Catalunia easily back to its current way of doing business, ie no change.

By ham-handedly trying to block the referendum the Spanish government has pretty much ensured it will pass. Many people who are opposed to independence will now boycott the vote guaranteeing a disputed outcome.

Mish, PabloMM’s Tweet should read “Go get them” not “For them” This crowd of Spaniards believe Catalonia is tearing Spain up so they are cheering the Guardia Civil (like our National Guard) to rein Catalonia in.

Yes, but you know the lead up starts post GFC with the failure of ZP to reign in the country’s economy and Rajoy was handed a mandate to bring back control, and that was extended to include Catalan regional direction and identity. The country has been under strict presence for a long time now, and the last elections showed how divided the populace is. That is not to give judgement one way or another, it just happened that way, but obviously the Catalans don’t fully agree with this, nor Rajoy with Catalan authority. He could not easily reverse his previous choice of route…and he knows Cataluña is going to be searching for independence one way or another for a long time, so a solution would have been to make a vast compromise, with Spain keeping ultimate title, but that I think would have been impossible for him to approach politically. Circunstancias jodidas.

–> “Why is Obama silent now in contrast to his cheerleading in Egypt? Where’s Trump?”

I don’t see any reason why any US president, past or present, needs to meddle in Catalonia’s affairs.

We don’t want the Russians interfering in our elections.

The British told Obama to shut up when he tried to interfere in the Brexit vote.

Its not our place to tell Catalonians what to vote, nor is it the President’s place.

Trump needs to refocus on repealing Obamacare before it causes even more serious economic damage; the crisis isn’t going away just because US Congress has its head up its own butt. 30% premium increases in an economy that is barely growing 2% is not feasible, and getting economic growth back up to 5-6% (if that were to happen) still wouldn’t make socialist medicine viable. 30>5. Its math, not politics

For anyone who wants to understand something of the depth of sentiment that is still quite clearly defined in much of Spanish society, there is this tweet partly defending Spain’s dictatorship from a UPyD politician, and if you expand on it for replies you will find the rejection of that by those who disagree. It sort of underlines the differences of perspective that are pretty much irreconcilable. It is all in Spanish.

If it makes the Catlans feel better they can vote. But it won’t get them anywhere. In the end power settles everything. The concept of right or wrong, just or unjust, legal of illegal means nothing anymore on this floating ball in space. It’s a NWO.

Andorra is not an EU member, what kind of agreements could be formed with Cataluña by EU ( trade etc.) is a question that is partly political and partly legal… I don’t think there is a clear answer, but certainly the theme would be taken up for consideration, and some sort of solution or direction arranged.

From “Unlike Catalonia’s leadership, Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau…” onwards I would question. It is missing background perspective, and it is easy to hypothesise a solution from an incomplete starting point.

Hi,
What background are you missing?
The statements on Colau seem correct to me. Maybe to add that Colau is from a very left wing party who always favored asking the people.
She was on the verge about this specific referendum given her belief that a referendum should be agreed amongst all parties, but with recent Spanish actions, she has expressed that she will go ahead and participate (e.g. vote), but will do so with a “blank vote”.
(Quotes for the above are available in Catalan if you’d like them)

Only marginal success can be made from working within a political system. Thus Trump will have marginal success. Government systems can only be changed two ways, external powers or the people rising up. Spain fears this vote because of the potential for the people rising up throughout the country. After all Spain is known for such.

80% want a vote
If 80% of California wanted to succeed, I would support that too.
No need to fly there
But you can fly to Madrid to protest the other way if you feel so obliged.
By the way, the process in Spain has been peaceful

– Not at all. Neither in 1714 nor in the following three hundred years.

Did the Catalans want the Transition?

– Yes, without doubt. Two of the seven fathers of the Constitution were Catalan and many Catalan MPs and senators made significant contributions to the Constitution. The national turnout in the constitutional referendum held on December 6, 1978 was of 67.11%, in Catalonia it was of 67.90%.

Does the 2006 judgement of the Constitutional Court on the 2006 Statute prevent the Catalans from having a satisfactory status in the Spanish constitutional framework?

– Obviously not. That is certainly repeated every day in statements and documents, to the extent that this is the general belief of many Catalan citizens, but it is not true. The Statute was unconstitutional on many important
aspects and the Constitutional Court had no choice but to declare it so. The Constitutional Court, nevertheless, chose to minimise the impact of its judgement by replacing declarations of unconstitutionality with interpretive reasoning.

Can we speak in any sense of lack of representation of the Catalans in the constituent process or in the State institutions?

– No, that statement has no basis.

Is there a right to decide outside the Constitution and the law?

– No. Not in Spain or in any other democracy. The Constitution and the laws are precisely the ones that guarantee the right to decide on political issues that affect us

Is the so-called right to self-determination applicable to Catalonia?

– No, it is not. This is a right limited to decolonisation processes and undemocratic regimes that do not respect the Rule of Law, subject to conditions established by the UN that have nothing to do with what is happening in Catalonia or in any other part of Spain.

Can the State convene a consultation or delegate it to the Generalitat, as agreed by the Parliament of Catalonia?

– It is not possible for any institution, not even the State Government, to call a secession referendum. Neither is it possible for the government to delegate on the Generalitat the capacity to convene a consultation of this nature. There is no other legal channel to hold a consultation on secession in Catalonia but amending the Constitution.

Has Spain plundered Catalonia in the past?

– No. An intense process of modernisation of Catalan society, one of the most obvious indicators of which is an increase of its population, has been observed since the eighteenth century.

Is Spain stealing from Catalonia now?

– Of course not. Secessionists claim that the current model of State in Spain exerts a so-called tax mistreatment on Catalan citizens and that the system by which Catalonia is financed must be changed urgently as a first step towards a final breakup from the rest of Spain. But the claims of fiscal plundering are a myth.

What would the economic data of a seceded Catalonia be?

– Since the weight of trade with the rest of Spain is key in Catalonia’s overall economic activity (about 10,000 million euros of exports from Catalonia to France, compared to 62,000 to the rest of Spain), secession would have devastating effects.”

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email. Note: You'll have to confirm your address after sign-up. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive a confirmation email.